William S. Cohen Papers | Senate Iran-Contra
Committee

The Iran-contra affair refers to certain related events that began
in early 1985 when Robert McFarlane, head of the National Security
Council (NSC), became involved in the sale of arms to Iran. He
believed that such a sale would secure the release of Americans who
were being held captive in Lebanon by Iranian terrorist groups. A
portion of the money that Iran paid for the arms was diverted by the
NSC to the Contras, rebels fighting to overthrow Nicaragua's
Sandinista government. The sale of weapons to Iran directly
contradicted the U.S. government's forcefully stated policy to
refuse to bargain with terrorists or sell arms to Iran, while the
diversion of funds to Nicaragua, handled by NSC staff member
Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North, directly violated the Boland
Amendment, a law passed in 1984 that banned U.S. military aid to the
Contras. These illegal activities came to light in November 1986 and
immediately caused a public uproar.

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (of which Cohen was the
ranking member) was one of several standing committees conducting
preliminary investigations and issuing reports on these events. In
January 1987, Congress established two new Select Committees charged
with undertaking a comprehensive investigation of the Iran-contra
affair. These were the Senate Select Committee on Secret Military
Assistance to Iran and the Nicaraguan Opposition, and the House
Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran.
Cohen was one of eleven Senators appointed to the Senate Select
Committee. The Senate and House Select Committees conducted a joint
investigation of the Iran-Contra Affair and held joint public
hearings, which extended from May 5 to August 3, 1987. During this
time, the Committees heard testimony from 32 witnesses. Cohen was
involved with questioning a number of these witnesses.

The records in this subseries consist of Cohen's files related to
this investigation. The first five boxes are arranged according to
the last names of the witnesses in these hearings, as well as others
involved in the investigation. The witness files consist of short
biographies, summaries of interviews, memos, statements given to the
press, excerpts from previous testimonies given before other
committees, and possible questions to be used in the hearings (many
of which were suggested by L. Britt Snider, Cohen's staff liaison to
the Iran-contra committee.) The published transcripts of these joint
hearings and the final report of the committees are also included.
Cohen, together with Senator George Mitchell, wrote a book about his
experience on this committee: Men of Zeal (Viking Penguin Inc.,
1988). Some of Cohen's book material and committee papers are
intermingled both in this subseries, and in his book material in the
Private Papers series.